The Murphy workforce development plan includes “Computer Science for All”, an initiative to provide every public school student access to coding skills and expanding apprenticeship training programs.

Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno unveiled two new TV campaign ads this week. One commercial highlights her plan to audit Trenton as governor and use the savings to deliver property tax relief for working families. The other chastises Ambassador Murphy on his tax policy positions and suggests that he will raise $1.3 billion in taxes if elected.

The Quinnipiac University Poll released last week found Ambassador Murphy holding a 25-point lead over Lt. Governor Guadagno, by a 58%-33% margin. The former Ambassador leads in almost every category of the poll, and perhaps most interestingly, almost 50 percent of likely voters find Guadagno’ s role as Governor Christie’s lieutenant a negative factor.

No Increase in the State Gas Tax for 2017

According to NJ.com and other media outlets, the Christie Administration will not raise the state’s gas tax this year.

The 2016 law that brought a $0.23 increase in New Jersey’s gas tax mandates that State review the gas tax rate by October 1 each year to see if it is generating the $1.23 billion needed each year to pay for Transportation Trust Fund’s 8-year, $16-billion infrastructure program.

August Revenue Figures Show State on Track for Fiscal Year 2018

The Treasurer’s Office announced that August collections across the State’s largest revenue sources saw an increase of $105 million as compared to the same month in 2016.

Treasury reports that collections have increased by 2.4 percent in the fiscal year-to‐date, though the revenue figures could be impacted by businesses and individuals living in the areas impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, but pay taxes to New Jersey.